


Nature Vs Nurture

by pherryt



Series: Second Chances [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: (mostly off screen), Android AU, Android!Cas, Android!Jack, Background Destiel, Cas and Dean are at the end of the story, Hurt/Comfort, Jack is a cinnamon roll, Lucifer is mean, M/M, Minor Character Death, Scared!Jack, Sci Fi AU, Space AU, story is Jack -centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-18 21:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16524839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Jack wakes up on the Trailblazer unsure of the truth. Is he being suspicious of Lucifer for no good reason, or should he be afraid for his life?





	Nature Vs Nurture

**Author's Note:**

> there was interest in a sequel involving Jack so, at long last, here it is. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Not Beta'd.

His first memory was of a scruffy blonde man puttering about a lab.

He didn’t have words yet. Nor a voice or even a name. Those came later.

He couldn’t move either, frozen in place. For some reason, though he’d never known any different, it terrified him. His eyes flicked around the room in limited capacity, seeing damaged and discarded figures piled in a corner like junk, exposed wires and puddles of coolant. More than one looked like they’d been deliberately hacked apart, parts ripped right out of them.

It was in that moment that the vague terror he felt solidified into true fear. If he’d had a voice, he might have started screaming.

Instead, all he could do was watch, his eyes twitching every time he tried to force them to move, to see what was going on. When the man disappeared out of sight, the fear grew tenfold.

And when the man started talking, he wished more than anything to be nowhere near him. But of course, that wasn’t possible. He still had no legs or arms attached to his body, his chest was open and exposed. He didn’t think he was even supposed to be awake yet.

Or maybe he was wrong. The man talked to him while he worked.

“You know, Jack, all my other children have failed me. But I know you won’t,” the scruffy man said, his fingers deep in Jack’s – _my name is Jack!_ \- chest. “The rest of them scared people too much which, heh, well, not gonna lie. That was kinda fun to watch but so not what I needed. Alastair was my favorite. He was sly and inventive and cruel but he did what he wanted regardless of what I asked. He drew too much attention to us. But man, the things he could do with a knife.”

The man paused, a dreamy look on his face before he shook his head and got back to work. “The cremator broke working overtime to hide his torture victims. Then there was Meg. A real spitfire and as loyal as I could have asked but absolutely obsessed with some 3rd rate cur called Crowley. Never could figure out why, but she wanted to tear him down so bad which... commendable but it got in the way of my plans.”

“Then there was Lilith. She was my first and I thought she’d be _perfect_ at getting people to let down their guards. And she did, at first, but all she wanted to do was wear white dresses, eat cake and torture little kittens and puppies.” The man sighed and grinned, the look of it sending a creepy feeling through Jack. “A girl after my own heart. Only problem was, she didn’t care if the neighbors saw or not. She was going to draw the authorities down on us before we even accomplished what I set out to do.”

“Now Jo... I thought I had a winner there. She knew _exactly_ how to fly under the radar. Of course, turned out she was plotting a takeover,” he scoffed. “As if she could ever be as smart as me. _Me!_ I’m the one _making_ you guys! I’m your dad. No, I’m your creator which makes me God. And she thought she was better than me? Yeah, I don’t think so. So, I got rid of her too.”

“But you, Jack. You’ll be different, I just know it. The best one yet. You look so sweet and innocent, it’ll pull in our marks every time.” Scruffy face beamed at him. “And I’ve been tweaking the personality matrix. I think I’ve figured out what I did wrong the other times. I put too much of me into all of them. Which, normally, not a bad thing but there can only be one me. The universe isn’t big enough for more than one of me.”

The man continued to talk like that in cruel and callous ways. Of all the ones that had come before Jack, of their failings. How they’d been discarded because they didn’t measure up and Jack? Jack was afraid.

Sometimes the man would leave Jack alone in the lab. Jack welcomed those times, though he was still trapped there. He wanted more than anything for the man to just finish him and then disappear to wherever it was he went when he wasn’t working on Jack so that Jack could escape.

Anywhere had to be better than here.

Right?

But luck was not on his side. Jacks legs were the last things to be attached before the man finally turned him on.

As Jack’s body whirred to life, his limbs straightening on their perch, the man before him changed too. It was odd to see, jarring as the hardness fell away and a smile, kinder than the others Jack had seen, came over his face. It was obvious that he had no real awareness that Jack had been aware of _him_ the entire time, that Jack had heard every cruel and bragging word. The man exuded an odd charm that belied everything he’d said to Jack while building him.

“Welcome to the world, Jack. I’m Lucifer, and I’m your dad,” Lucifer beamed at him. The words were gentle, almost soft and Jack blinked at him, confused. Where were the harsh and boastful words from before? “I’ve dumped some basics into your memory banks, so you _should_ be capable of thinking and speaking. So,” he clapped his hands together and leaned forward. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Dad,” Jack said slowly, testing the word in his mouth, the first one he’d ever said. “You’re my dad.”

“That’s right!” Lucifer shot him a grin. Jack tentatively returned it before looking around the room, now that he had free range of movement. He shifted in his place on the bench, his eyes tracking toward the pile of scrap parts and broken limbs. The heads that stared vacantly, almost accusingly.

Something inside him froze. He hadn’t imagined those so then…

“What about them?” Jack asked, a waver in his voice.

Lucifer looked surprised, following his gaze. “What  _about_  them?” he asked, his voice a little sharper.  Putting his arm around Jacks shoulders, Lucifer turned them away from the sight and spoke, his voice once more soft. “Don’t worry about them, all right? They’re _nothing_. You’re _everything._ ”

“But why did you build me?”

“Ah, straight to the point. I like you, young man,” Lucifer said gleefully. “But first, we need to run some tests. Make sure you’re up to snuff.”

Jack spent the next few hours proving strength, agility, dexterity of the fingers and so much more with still no clear idea of what Lucifer even wanted. The whole time Lucifer chattered and laughed. Eventually Jack decided that Lucifer just liked to hear himself talk as Jack’s input was not often needed.

Despite the oddness of Lucifer, things started out easily and simple enough. First, Jack helped out around Lucifer’s lab. Then eventually, as his skills grew – in rapid leaps and bounds – he was allowed outside of the lab for other errands.

Jack figured out he was in space when he went by a window – viewport, the correct word floated to the top of his head – and got enraptured by the vision on the other side. It wasn’t simply black strewn with stars, as the knowledge Lucifer had given him had described. Instead, the sky seemed a mix of black and blues, with clouds of purple, pinks and greens that were just reaching out towards them. The stars themselves were different colors and sizes and scattered randomly.

It was breathtaking and Jack knew then and there he always wanted to live on a ship.

“Stay in space?” Lucifer laughed. Jack had files now that told him that a laugh was supposed to be a fun sound, but this didn’t sound fun to him. Lucifer’s eyes were too bright and manic and his grin was stretched oddly. “What kind of crazy talk is _that_?”

“I don’t understand,” Jack said slowly. “What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with that is this old rustbucket is falling apart. I used the last of my money building _you_ and buying enough provisions to make our way out to Epsim 5.” Lucifer turned away to check a readout. “I hate space. It’s cold, dangerous and empty.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Jack said, staring out the viewport once more. He had to admit Lucifer was right about the lonely part.  “If you don’t like it out here, then why are you?”

Lucifer didn’t answer. His lips firmed up, his eyes narrowed and his body tensed. The knuckles of his hand turned white where they gripped the console. Abruptly, he stood with a growl, stalking out of the room and leaving Jack completely in the dark.

As soon as Lucifer left, Jack let out the shudder he’d held in. The growl frightened him. And there’d been something about the way he’d reacted that had made Jack very uncomfortable though he hadn’t been able to put his finger on _why._

Echoing up the corridor was a shout followed by muffled cursing and something crashing about and Jack flinched.

He never asked Lucifer why they were in space again. Jack was afraid that if he did, that anger would be turned on him. The idea of it scared him, the image of lifeless machinery flashing before his eyes.

 

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

Weeks went by on board the ship and they settled into a routine.

Lucifer had strange moments that Jack couldn’t quite figure out, but was otherwise so unfailingly nice that Jack brushed them off. He just didn’t know any better, he figured. Lucifer was his only example of how people should behave.

He wanted to believe that, anyway.

The odd memories from before his waking persisted, and he never could get himself to completely relax around Lucifer. Whenever he dwelled on it, guilt would flood him. Lucifer had brought him to life, so shouldn’t he be grateful for that instead of suspicious?

He kept busy though, reading his way through the ships library as Lucifer taught Jack all sorts of things. Mostly how to fight, which Jack didn’t understand in the slightest. What would he need that for, on a ship with only 2 people?

“I want to learn how to fly the ship,” Jack said eagerly one morning just after Lucifer awoke.

Glaring up at him bleary eyed over a cup of coffee, Lucifer said, “No.” His voice was flat, empty of all intonation and Jack had no idea how to read that. Maybe he was just tired? Humans needed sleep, after all. Not that Jack didn’t have his own downtime that he needed but once he was awake, he was awake. Humans, or at least Lucifer, seemed to need all sorts of assistance in waking up.

“But why not? There’s only two of us on board. What if something happens to you? Then I’d be all alone floating in space. Or we could be close to help and I’d have no way to take you there,” Jack said, leaning forward earnestly, trying to appeal to Lucifer’s sense of self preservation. The things he’d read said it was a strong instinct in all humans and many other self-aware creatures.

“I said no, Jack. You don’t need to know how to fly the ship. _I’m_ the captain,” Lucifer hissed, pointing at himself emphatically. “I’m in charge. Nobody pilots but me, you understand?”

Jack nodded even though he didn’t and walked away. The ship was small, but he’d found an out of the way corner through his explorations while Lucifer slept and he went there, cramming himself in the nook. It was the only place he felt truly private. He thought over what Lucifer said.

It was the same thing he’d said when Jack had asked to learn about robotics. Being able to do self-repairs only made sense, but Lucifer only gave Jack enough knowledge to help keep the engines running. Sort of, anyway. Generic, basic things. Patchworks. Unsticking a door but not the right chemical mixes.

When Lucifer was asleep, Jack crept over to the computer and tried to teach himself the things that Lucifer denied him.

Self-repair might be one thing, but piloting couldn’t be that hard, right? Jack frowned at the screens when he realized that all he could find were technical manuals. There was literally nothing useful in regards to piloting. But what if something happened to Lucifer? Why wouldn’t he teach Jack how to fly the ship? It would only make sense that Jack _did_ know.

The more he played with the computer database, trying to learn anything Lucifer kept from him, the more he realized that it was severely lacking. He pored through the ship’s computer, combing through everything he could find, trying to find anything useful.

Eventually, he brought it up with Lucifer, though it had been difficult to find a way to do so tactfully.

“The memory discs are corrupted,” Lucifer said with a shrug, a strange glint in his eyes. “What do you need it for anyway? All you need is me, kid. I’ll take you places.”

Jack squinted. “You _are_ taking me places.”

“So? Exactly my point, boy,” Lucifer said, turning away. End of discussion.

 

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

The first time they met another person was exciting.

The sound of the com pinging was strange and unfamiliar and made Jack pause. The com crackled and spit, erasing parts of the distress call, but it was clear what it was and Lucifer answered it eagerly.

It made Jack blink.

As soon as Lucifer stood, he clapped Jack on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go down to the airlock and greet our guests while I get the medbay ready?”

Jack leaped up. “Of course!”

He nearly raced down the corridors, his mind whirling. What would they be like? Would they be like Lucifer? Or nicer, like the stories he read? How many people would there be? How different would they look?

Lost in his thoughts, he arrived at the airlock faster than he thought possible. He palmed the lock and watched it impatiently, a restless energy he’d never felt before flowing through him. He forced himself to stay still, but it was so hard.

The airlock cycled open and Jack beamed at the two people leaning on each other on the other side, smoke billowing inside along with them. They were looking rather worse for wear, clothing torn and bloodied, scrapes and cuts and bruises on their bodies.

“Welcome to the Trailblazer,” Jack said. “I’m Jack. We’re here to help.” He announced proudly. These were the first people he’d gotten a chance to meet other than Lucifer, and he had  _so many questions_.

He hoped to have a chance to ask them.

“We appreciate you and your captain stopping to help. My name’s Maggie. This is my dad, Roy,” the one Jack thought was female said. At least, if his databanks were correct. He thought there were a few strange gaps in the knowledge that Lucifer had given him and supplementing them by reading through the ship’s computer hadn’t helped, but he also wasn’t quite sure. Was it deliberate? Maybe to humans, the gaps were normal? How would he even know the difference?

“The captains my dad too,” Jack said, smiling. “Come, the medbay is this way.” He turned and eagerly led the way, Maggie and her dad following Jack slowly, their steps dragging.

“Sorry,” Maggie huffed out. “We’re not used to a heavier gravity.”

Her father nodded, the movement looking painfully jerky. “She’s right. Gravity is usually a fairly great strain on a ships system. I’m surprised you all have it set so high.”

Jack shrugged. “I’ve never known any different.” But he slowed his steps to accommodate them. Maggie flashed him a grateful smile and it made him feel light. Which was weird, because the gravity was still the same.

As soon as they arrived at the medbay, Lucifer grinned and clapped his hands together. “Good boy, Jack. Why don’t you go back to monitoring the bridge for me? Gotta make sure this old boat stays afloat long enough to help these fine people, don’t you think?”

Jack tilted his head. The readouts weren’t in any danger, last he’d checked, and they certainly didn’t need constant monitoring. “But I want to help.”

“You  _are_ helping, my boy,” Lucifer announced, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “by doing what I told you to do.” Lucifer’s hand pinched strangely on Jacks skin, though it didn’t hurt him. “Now go on. I need to set about patching these folks up.”

Reluctantly, Jack turned to leave. “Everything will be okay,” he assured Maggie on his way out the door. It cycled closed with a hiss, and he just barely heard Maggie’s dad speaking before he stepped out of range.

“You’ve got a good kid there.”

Jack smiled, something warm fluttering through him as he bounced through the corridors, ducking various makeshift repairs as he went.

Hours later, curious about the state of their new guests, Jack popped down to the medbay with the intent to briefly check on them. Surely he could be away from those readouts for a couple of minutes? Lucifer did it all the time. And shouldn’t Lucifer have come and got him by now?

When he arrived, Jack found the medbay empty. He scanned the room, but it almost looked like nothing had been touched. Perplexed, he searched the ship for them, stopping only to try an intercom on the way. It crackled and hissed. Much like many other things on the ship, the intercom seemed to come and go. Jack sometimes worried the ship would fail around them.

He proceeded to investigate the ship on foot, but it was small, and he found nobody. Not their guests and not Lucifer. The idea that he might be alone squeezed him, turned him cold. He didn’t like that feeling, he decided. Even Lucifer had to be better than nobody. Right?

Eventually, his wanderings brought him back to the airlock that connected their ship with Maggie and Roy’s.

He was almost afraid to open the door. Something didn’t feel right. Slowly, Jack reached out, placing his hand on the lock for the second time that day. The machinery clunked and the door hissed open.

Smoke still filled the air, though it was less thick than it had been earlier. He heard thuds and other clanking noises further in and he steeled himself, walking towards the strange noises.

“Dad?” Jack called out.

There was a clatter and a muffled curse but no one answered. Jacks feet sped up, until he was nearly running through the corridors.

He skidded around the corners in the strangely light gravity of the ship, bouncing off of walls.

“What the hell, boy!” Lucifer roared when Jack careened around the corner and collided with him, taking them both to the ground before they bounced slightly. “I told you to keep an eye on those monitors!”

“Dad! They’re missing!” Jack said, pushing himself and Lucifer up of the deck.

Lucifer’s face went blank before changing to one of sympathy, his mouth pulled into a frown. “Oh, oh Jack, I am  _so_  sorry, son. They… they didn’t make it.”

“What do you mean?” Jack said, his voice going shrill.

“I mean, they had internal injuries, Jack. I couldn’t help them. My ship, it’s just too old. My equipment just wasn’t up to the task and I’m not exactly a doctor,” Lucifer said.

“Oh,” Jack said, staring at Lucifer sadly.

It made sense and suddenly he felt stupid for letting some fears he couldn’t even quantify rule his thoughts. Humans were such frail creatures, weren’t they? He hadn’t thought they’d looked that bad but then… what did _he_ know?

“I don’t understand. If they’re gone, then what are you doing over here?”

“Well, um… it’s uh, right of salvage,” Lucifer said, ducking his eyes. “Their ship is dead in the water. I figured we could save what we could. They don’t need it after all and I mean, if it could help someone else, wouldn’t they want to?”

Jack tilted his head. “Oh, okay.” He didn’t know Maggie or Roy personally, but there were stories he’d found about how altruistic humans could be.

“Also, we’ll need to go through their personal effects and catalogue it. For um, reporting purposes when we finally make landfall,” Lucifer continued, eyeing Jack strangely.

“I can help!” Jack insisted.

Lucifer relaxed and he smiled. “Great. Let’s get to work.”

 

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

Wherever Epsim 5 was, it was sure taking them a while to get there. Jack had no idea when Lucifer started their journey, but it had been almost 8 months since that first distress call. It wasn’t the first or the last time they made contact with someone else, but when the com pinged, it still startled Jack into turning away from his task, eagerness and dread already making its way through him a split second later.

There was someone out there.

Though they hadn’t had much luck with anybody they met so far, Jack couldn’t help but hope that _this_ time would be the one. _This_ time, he’d be able to talk to people other than Lucifer for more than a couple of minutes.

Maggie and her father had only been the first. Lucifer and Jack had come across several broken ships on their path. While most of the ships had been discovered through distant distress calls that they had answered, some had only been found by accident, broken and abandoned and in their path. One had been so close to their flight path that they’d gotten knocked off course before the engine had sputtered to a stop.

Sometimes, Jack found himself preferring the empty ships. His hopes didn’t rise only to shatter. And he didn’t sit there afterwards wondering if it all had really happened the way Lucifer had said it did.

But he didn’t want to stay here with Lucifer being his only example of people. He wanted to meet other people and make friends, find a family. He longed for a place that felt like he belonged. On one of the ships they’d found, Jack had discovered some paperback novels. They were old and yellowing and he’d been careful to hide them away where Lucifer couldn’t find them and confiscate them.

The books filled him with longing and questions and the utter certainty that whatever Lucifer pretended, he didn’t really know how to love.

Jack stared at the com board, the light flashing intermittently. Lucifer glared at it but didn’t answer. Why didn’t he answer? He always answered. Always seemed _eager_ to answer.

The com crackled. “This is the Shedim, looking for Lucifer Morningstar.”

Jack blinked and looked from the com to Lucifer and back again. This was a first. Someone looking for them specifically? Lucifer closed his eyes and swore. Opening them, Lucifer took a deep breath and flicked a switch.

“This is the Trailblazer, Captain Lucifer in command. To whom do we owe the pleasure?” Lucifer’s voice was honey smooth, but his eyes blazed, lips pressed tight as soon as he finished speaking.

“That is a matter best left discussed face to face. Prepare for docking,” the voice on the other end said, a strange lilt to his voice Jack had never heard before. He watched, amazed, as Lucifer did as he was told, his hands flying over the console in assured but jerky movements.  Each click of a switch was done with impatient anger as a scowl deepened over Lucifer’s face.

What was going on?

The sound of two ships connecting shook the Trailblazer and Lucifer slammed his hand down on the final button, locking everything into place. He stood, muttering and digging about in a slim metal cabinet. He grabbed something Jack couldn’t catch and tucked it behind his back, under the odd half jacket he wore.

The temperature was fairly mild on board, so Jack was never sure why Lucifer wore the jacket but he usually did even when it was just the two of them and he _always_ made sure to wear it when they met strangers.

Lucifer didn’t even get two steps before the cabin door slid open with a clunky hiss and a man stood framed in the doorway. He wore a full white suit, dark hair brushing his shoulders and facial hair too – beard? Goatee? No, it was a  beard - some of it streaked with a silvery white. The man was clean and neat and altogether more different than Lucifer or any of the other people Jack had met so far.

“Lucifer!” the man in the white suit shouted exuberantly as he strode forward. As respectable as he looked, even in comparison with Lucifer, something in his tone set Jack just as much on edge as being around Lucifer did.

And that worried him. And it worried him further to see how discomfited Lucifer was in his presence.  That couldn’t be a good sign.

“Asmodeus,” Lucifer said cautiously.

“Look at how far you’ve fallen,” Asmodeus smirked.

“What do you want?” Lucifer asked through gritted teeth. Jack couldn’t help wondering the same thing, or why Lucifer had even let him on board if he didn’t like Asmodeus that much.

“What do _I_ want? Such uncharitable thoughts towards an old friend. I heard what happened and thought I’d check to see how my old mentor was doing.” Asmodeus looked at Jack appraisingly. “Still trying to build the perfect lackey, I see.”

“Yeah, well, you turned out to be such a dismal failure, so…”

“A failure?” Asmodeus tsked. “I surpassed you. Look at me!” he held his hands out wide, displaying himself. Then he looked around the ship in distaste. “And look at you,” he sneered. “This thing’s barely held together and you and your _toys_ –” another glance at Jack, making him shudder “-- have been chased off at least four planets. Finding you was a task in and of itself. This thing is _slow._ ”

“Keeping tabs on me?” Lucifer asked. The bravado in his voice – Jack wasn’t sure, but it sounded fake, enforced.  Who was this guy and exactly what kind of bad news _was_ he? “Didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t.” Asmodeus frowned. “But I _am_ worried you’ll slip up one too many times and then were will _I_ be? I know you, Lucifer, and how you like to talk.”

Lucifer scoffed. “As if I would talk about anything that would incriminate myself.”

“You would, if you thought it would get you _out_ of trouble and someone, namely myself, _into_ it.” Asmodeus said.

Jack looked between the two men with a sinking feeling. They talked around and around in circles but enough of it pointed towards Lucifer – towards _both_ of them – doing things, _bad things_ , that it made him scared. All the suspicions he’d held since Lucifer woke him up, all the times Jack had wavered over whether he was just misunderstanding things…

He tried not to let his fear show. Thankful that he didn’t _need_ to breathe, he stopped, powering down as many of his systems as he could and still function, just so he wouldn’t draw their attention.

Lucifer had been so _careful_ around Jack, up till now. If he realized Jack was _listening_ and realizing at last Lucifer’s true colors…

Fear gripped him as he recalled that ever present pile of scrap metal and fake flesh in the corner of Lucifer’s lab. Jack was sure he’d become one of them.

“I see. You’re here to make sure I never get the chance, huh?” Lucifer asked. Jack saw his hand twitch. What was he about to do?

Asmodeus nodded. “Of course. I know you’re not dumb. Insane, maybe, but all the best men are. A little shortsighted at times, impulsive as hell, too, but not dumb.”

“You’re right. I’m _not_ dumb.” Lucifer’s hand shifted and faster than Jack had imagined possible – he had to slow it down for the playback in his mind to make sure he hadn’t been seeing things – Lucifer’s arm disappeared under his jacket and came back holding – was that a gun? Yes, his studies indicated that it would be a gun.

Lucifer’s index finger squeezed and a sound shot out, absurdly loud in the enclosed space. Asmodeus’s head rocked back, splattering blood spray about the tiny cabin. Jack flinched back, his systems whirring up in response as some of it landed on him.

 Jack looks down at the blood on him in horror.

“Jack.”

He didn’t look up as he tried desperately to wipe it away.

“Jack, I had to do it, son. You understand that, right? He was going to kill me. You think he would have stopped there? I was protecting you!” Lucifer’s voice was frantic, and Jack shook his head, finally looking up.

"What did you do?" Jack asked, unable to make his voice unit talk at his usual register, the breath of his words barely leaving his mouth.  

Lucifer heard them anyway and grimaced. “I told you, son. I protected you."

"No!” Jack shouted, his eyes wide as his voice dropped. “What did you _do?_ Why did he want to kill us? Kill _you_? How many people have _you_ killed, Lucifer?"

“I told you to call me dad!" Lucifer shouted back, his fists clenched and his face going red.

Jack shook his head as terror coursed through him. "Did... were ... They weren’t accidents, were they? All those distress signals we found..." he whispered hoarsely. “All those mysterious deaths…”

Lucifer’s face twisted into a grin, but it looked cruel and his eyes glittered madly. The sight sickened Jack. "You poor naive piece of junk. I needed you innocent and unsuspecting. Can’t fool a mark if they can see right through you. But you're too smart. Too inquisitive. I wasn’t going to be able to keep you in the dark much longer, was I?"

He strode towards Jack and Jack stiffened.

"It’s such a shame, too. You were my best creation. They all trusted you the second they laid eyes on you. The perfect bait lulling them into complacency.” Lucifer sighed. “Damn Asmodeus anyway."

Jack tried to step back when Lucifer pulled something out of his pocket, tried to shrink away but there was nowhere for him to go, already cornered with his back to a wall in the all too cramped space.

"What are you going to do to me?" Jacks voice shook, the pile of Lucifers’ past mistakes all he could see.

"What else is a malfunctioning android good for?" Lucifer asked with a sneer. "Spare parts.” His finger moved and then Jacks world went dark.

 

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

He awoke in the lab.

Like before, Lucifer didn’t seem aware that Jack was even awake. Jacks chest cavity was open, a port at the back of his neck was open, wires had been pulled out and lay exposed on the bench, but thankfully not disconnected.

But he couldn’t move.

Lucifer racketed about in the lab, muttering to himself as he picked through the tools. “Should have known you were too innocent to be useful for long. If I can just… reprogram you…”

“No.”

Lucifer froze.

Slowly, he turned to face Jack. “How are you - ?”

Jack wasn’t sure how he’d managed to speak when nothing else was obeying his commands, but he wasn’t going to just let Lucifer rip him apart without an argument. “I don’t want to be reprogrammed.”

“You don’t get any say in the matter,” Lucifer said, stalking towards Jack. “I’m the one who made you. And I’m the one who will _un_ make you.”

“You can’t,” Jack’s voice broke. “You’ll kill me.”

“Kill you?” Lucifer asked incredulously. He laughed. “You’re just a bucket of parts and wires. Bits and bobs and the kitchen sink. You’re not _alive_ , Jack. You’re not real. You’re just a tool.”

“I _am_ real,” Jack said desperately.

“You’re not,” Lucifer growled. “And I’m going to take you apart and build me a _new_ android. One who doesn’t question me. You’ve always asked too many questions, got attached to people too quickly. It was a sign. I should have known. I should have done this _months_ ago.”

Lucifer grabbed the exposed wires and yanked. Sparks flew up and Jack yelled, trying to move his arms, to get up, to do _anything_ to stop Lucifer.

“Good thing you can’t fight back,” Lucifer laughed cruelly. “I learn from my mistakes. I don’t know how you’re awake, Jack, but that makes taking you apart all the sweeter.”

He placed a hand directly into Jacks’ chest and pulled, Jack feeling a pain he’d never felt before, terror that he was about to die. With every ounce of will he could gather he lunged forward at Lucifer – and surprised himself when he actually did, his body careening into the shocked man.

Shoving at Lucifer, Jack watched him sprawl on the deck. He turned to run, stumbling and tripping, frantically trying to push things back in place – not that he knew what any of it did, or how to fix it – but something slammed into him from behind and he crashed to the ground. He scrabbled at the deck as Lucifer attacked him.

Finally, he managed to roll over and raise his leg, kicking with all his might at Lucifer. He caught Lucifer in the gut and the power of his kick sent Lucifer across the room, smashing against a wall, the object he’d been using to hit Jack with clattering to the floor.

He didn’t stick around to see if Lucifer got back up.

Jack dragged himself out of the lab. Whatever had managed to get him moving was gone and his steps slowed. Fear pinged him.

Would he make it out of here? Would he be able to reach an escape pod? Was it too late? Had Lucifer killed him after all?

He stumbled through the corridor, steps slowing despite his desperation.

Only hallway to the closest pod Jack knew he wouldn’t make it any further, his sight was dimming and it was taking too much effort to move. But as luck would have it, the little nook he’d found for himself was right there. He crawled inside the space, the one place he’d ever felt safe in. Surrounded by the comfort of his collection of random things and his precious books, Jack fell still.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

 

His next memory was of a different scruffy man. His hair was on the much darker end of blonde and his mouth was moving. It took several seconds for the words to filter through Jacks damaged processors, seconds longer than they should have, but he finally heard the voice, as if through a tunnel.

“Hey buddy, you’re gonna be okay. Cas and I are gonna fix you up and make you all better.”

There was something about the voice that made him ache strangely in his chest. Something about the facial expressions that made Jack trust him. He nodded – or tried to nod – and then his vision went black again.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

Jack blinked awake. A face came into view.

“Hey, you’re awake,” the face said, smiling gently. “I’m Dean. Do you have a name?”

“Jack. It’s Jack,” he said slowly.

“How do you feel?” another voice asked. It was lower, rougher, but it held a warmth in it Jack hadn’t expected. He turned his head to face it. The bearer of the voice had dark hair and blue eyes and stared at him unblinkingly.

“I’m… not sure. I’m alive?” Jack asked. His eyes widened and he looked down at his chest, running a hand over his still naked torso. “I’m alive.”

“I won’t lie, Jack,” Dean said, running a hand through his hair. “Wasn’t sure you’d make it. But Cas here is a miracle worker.”

“Dean,” the dark-haired man chided gently. His name was Cas, Jack thought. He faced Jack. “Don’t let Dean fool you, it was a team effort.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Dean asked.

“Why did you save me?”

Dean shrugged. “Because it was the right thing to do?” he seemed uncomfortable with the question, mumbling and blushing.

“We found your ship, floating dead in space,” Cas said. “No life signs aboard, but we know that doesn’t mean anything, so we went aboard to check anyway.”

Fear thrilled through Jack. He had no idea what had happened to Lucifer, but the possibility that Jack might have killed him while defending himself was very strong. An android killing a human would probably have these people turning against him quickly, no matter the cause.

He shifted back, looking about, and that’s when he saw the discarded parts littering the room. He was in a lab. Another lab, and those parts looked familiar.

Jumping to his feet with a yell, he backed away from Cas and Dean, away from Lucifer’s discards, familiar pieces catching his eyes: the red curly hair, the bloodstained white dress, the black jacket.

“Jack? Are you all right?” Cas asked, stepping toward him.

Pointing, Jack asked shakily, “What about them? What are you… are you going to fix them too?”

“I think they’re too far gone, to be honest. We weren’t sure what we were going to do with them,” Dean said. “We wanted to see if you could be fixed first.”

“Jack, what’s wrong?”

Jerking, Jack stumbled back when he realized how close Cas was. He fell to the floor and started to shake. Lucifer had proved to be as horrible as he thought, and if all the things Lucifer had said about the other androids he’d built were true, they’d be as bad or worse than Lucifer.

And if Cas and Dean put them back together, Jack didn’t think they’d hesitate to rip them all apart again, including Jack.

Lucifer hadn’t hesitated, why would they?

They’d never believe Jack wasn’t like them. Lucifer had made and scrapped them all. Jack might even be as much a killer as they were, a monster. He didn’t know for sure, but it was likely.

What had happened to Lucifer after he hit the wall?

Jack stared at Cas and Dean fearfully, unable to make a sound, before ducking his head down onto his knees and curling in on himself.

“Cas, what did we do?” Dean whispered.

“I don’t know.” Cas didn’t bother whispering. “Why don’t you go check in with Bobby while I talk to Jack?”

“Okay, babe,” Dean said. There was a strange sound, a sigh and then footsteps receding before the door cycled open and closed again. The cycling was clean and barely audible, unlike Lucifer’s ship.

In fact, the entire lab was so different then Lucifer’s. It was cluttered, sure, but it was bright and clean, except for that dark spot of Lucifer’s castoffs.

“Jack, will you tell me what’s wrong? What’s frightening you? You’re safe here, whatever happened to you before,” Cas didn’t get any closer, but his voice was gentle and filled with something foreign. Jack jerked his head up to blink at Cas.

He shook his head, darting a glance at the others and back again.

“Are you afraid of them?” Cas asked, nodding at the pile.

Jack nodded.

“Aren’t you one of them?”

“N-n-no,” he stuttered, shaking his head violently.

“What’s got you so frightened?”  Cas asked. It was a reasonable question but Jack couldn’t make himself answer. “What did Lucifer do to you?”

Jack flinched. “Please don’t take me apart. I don’t want to die,” he choked out.

“Why would we --? We just put you back together, we’re not going to kill you,” Cas said. “Is that what Lucifer did?”

Jack nodded. “He tried. Said I was a failure, like all the rest.”

“You fought back?” Cas asked, the words soft.

“I had to!” Jack blurted out, whipping his head up to stare at Cas defiantly. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just wanted to get away. Please, you’ve got to believe me!”

“Jack!” Cas held up his hands. “Easy! I believe you.”

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?” Jack asked suspiciously. It was what Lucifer would have done to catch someone off guard. It was what Lucifer had _used_ him for.

Cas dropped fluidly to the deck, sitting in front of Jack. He turned his head slightly and reached up to his neck. He pressed there a moment and when his hand pulled away, Jack stared at him in astonishment.

“You’re… like me?” Jack asked. He looked around the lab cautiously before staring at Cas again. “Do _they_ know?”

“They do now,” Cas answered, closing the port on his neck. “We’re not going to take you apart, Jack.”

“But, you don’t know me. I could be dangerous. Lucifer – “ Jack protested even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Everyone has a right to defend themselves, Jack,” Cas said gently. “It doesn’t make you bad or dangerous.”

Jack looked away, his gaze drawn to the broken androids recovered from Lucifers’ ship. “They are,” he whispered. “Lucifer told me the things they did. He didn’t know I heard him, but I did. They were horrible.”

The door hissed and Jack’s head jerked up to see Dean returning, a pad in his hand. Cas turned as well, smiling at Dean.

“Hey Cas, so, Charlie managed to hack the computer systems and uh, I don’t think we should touch those other androids,” Dean said before looking up. His gaze flitted about the lab till the fell on Cas and Jack. “How are you feeling now, kid?”

“We were just discussing the other androids, in fact,” Cas said. “We had just come to the same conclusion.”

“Yeah, seems like this Lucifer guy was a real nutjob. His personal log shows all his work. Insane, but a genius. How he managed to do any of it with the inferior shit he had, it’s amazing,” Dean said, shaking his head “Jacks probably his best work, but his early ones all had a rather violent streak in them.”

Jack watched him approach warily. Dean crouched between Cas and Jack, letting the pad dangle from his fingers between his legs.

“They’ve already been taken apart. What if we just… give them some sort of burial? It wasn’t their fault Lucifer fucked them over,” Dean suggested.

“W-what about me?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. Figured you’d like to see your room,” Dean said with a shrug. “The rest is kinda up to you.”

“My room?” Jack asked, uncurling slightly.

Cas stood, holding out his hand. “Would you like to see it, Jack?”

“I… get my own room?” Jack asked, reaching out tentatively to take Cas’s hand. Cas drew him to his feet and let go.

“You do, kid. And uh, wait a second,” Dean stood and walked away, casting about the lab for something. “Aha, here it is.” He picked up a small crate and brought it over to Jack. “Are these your things? Cause if they are, we can help you move in.”

Jack peered into the crate and gasped. All his books were there, and most of the little things he’d taken for himself as well, random things he’d found around the ship that never looked like they belonged there. A piece of driftwood, from which a round wire with feathers and beads dangled. Art made of colored glass, no bigger than his hand. A gold chain with a dangling sun. A small stuffed kitten. Little things he figured Lucifer would never miss, and he’d been right.

His hands trembled as he grasped the crate, his eyes feeling strangely. He sniffled.

“Holy shit,” Dean whispered. “I didn’t know androids could cry.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Jack said, wiping at his face and finding clear fluid rolling down his skin.

“Nothing, Jack,” Cas said, beaming. “Absolutely nothing. Welcome home.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Rebloggable post ](https://pherryt.tumblr.com/post/179773204201/nature-vs-nurture-sequel) :D


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